China reaches out to congratulate South Korean president-elect despite hints of tougher stance on Beijing

Name: Who is South Korea’s newly elected president Yoon Suk-yeol and what are his plans?
Uploaded: 2022-03-10T12:00:28.000Z
Duration: 2 min 23 s
Description: Who is South Korea’s newly elected president Yoon Suk-yeol and what are his plans?

Yoon Suk-yeol criticised the incumbent leader’s tilt towards Beijing and has promised to join a US-led regional bloc targeting China

Chinese foreign ministry cautiously commends Yoon on his victory and expresses hope for ‘healthy and stable’ bilateral ties

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Yoon Suk-yeol, South Korea’s president-elect, reacts outside his campaign office in the National Assembly in Seoul, South Korea, on Wednesday. Photo: Bloomberg

Shi Jiangtao

Published: 8:00pm, 10 Mar 2022Updated: 8:47pm, 10 Mar 2022

Beijing has given a cautious welcome to the election of South Korea’s main opposition leader as its next president amid concerns that bilateral relations may be further tested over his pro-Washington stance.

In the closest election in decades, Yoon Suk-yeol, a former prosecutor who signalled a tougher stance on Beijing and promised to join a US-led regional bloc targeting China, narrowly defeated his rival Lee Jae-myung from President Moon Jae-in’s ruling party.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian congratulated Yoon on his victory on Thursday and expressed hope that the president-elect would push for “healthy and stable” bilateral ties.

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Who is South Korea’s newly elected president Yoon Suk-yeol and what are his plans?

In a commentary on Thursday, Xinhua news agency described this year, which marks the 30th anniversary of official ties between Beijing and Seoul, as “a new starting point”. It also urged Yoon – who pledged to the Chinese ambassador to South Korea last year “a further upgrade” of bilateral ties if elected – to deliver on his campaign promise.

The election was seen by many South Koreans as a referendum on Moon’s single five-year term, with many voters expressing frustration over a raft of domestic woes, from unemployment and home prices to economic and gender divides.

Seizing on popular discontent in South Korea over Moon’s strategic ambiguity towards US-China rivalry amid growing anti-Chinese sentiment, Yoon, who has no experience in foreign policy, lashed out at the incumbent leader’s foreign policy, especially his tilt towards China.

In an article published last month in Foreign Affairs magazine, Yoon said “a deeper alliance with Washington should be the central axis of Seoul’s foreign policy” and he promised to “willingly participate in” the Quad, a US-led quadrilateral grouping that includes Japan, India and Australia.